Apple Continues to Dominate the Tablet Market in Q2 2012

Apple has been ruling the tablet market with the iPad since it first launched it in 2010. In a way, it created the market for tablets when everyone else had just given up by creating one of the best tablets to date — the iPad — and creating a complete ecosystem around it.

Even though the iPad is one of Apple’s most relatively inexpensive products, it is still priced higher than most new Android tablets, which have been priced at around the $200 to $400 range to beat the iPad on price, since none of them can beat it on design, features or anything else just yet.

There has been speculation that while Apple will continue to sell tons of iPads, its market share will drop significantly in the coming years, as competing Android and Windows 8 tablets start beating it in unit sales, if not profits.

However, according to some new numbers by Strategy Analytics, Apple continues to wipe the floor with its competitors, and is still dominating the tablet market, even more so in the last quarter, after the launch of the iPad 3.

Apple sold nearly 17 million iPad units in Q2, up 84% year-over-year, generating more than $9 billion in revenue. The total tablet shipments in Q2 2012 were 24.9 million, which gives Apple a 68.3% market share. Android comes a distant second with 7.3 million unit sales, or a 29.3% market share, while Microsoft and others lag far behind.

In the next couple of quarters, Apple’s share may decline again, as Windows 8 tablets gain market share and Google’s Nexus 7 and other cheap Android tablets gain traction too.

However, the iPad will continue to lead the tablet market for years to come, at least when it comes to profits. If Apple launches the iPad Mini as rumored, then it may be able to easily grab even more marketshare, by not leaving a price umbrella for its competitors.